Computer systems can employ a variety of storage methods to store data both for short term use and long-term use. Systems that are used to store and deliver large amounts of data can use a distributed object store system to efficiently meet client needs. As such, distributed object stores are becoming a de-facto standard for serving workloads such as content delivery networks (CDN), big data analytics, genomics, and artificial intelligence tasks.
Traditional object stores employ hard disk drives (HDDs). The performance characteristics of hard disk drives are such that the existing mechanisms for managing the operation of object stores do not impact the speed at which the object stores operate. For example, traditional object nodes include kernel mode constructs, file system interfaces and expensive locking mechanisms to control shared resources. However, when using storage mediums with higher performance characteristics (e.g., non-volatile flash storage), these mechanisms represent an unacceptable bottleneck for many types of tasks. As innovations in solid state drive technology (e.g., flash storage technology) drive higher densities with significantly better performance, new methods of storing and retrieving object data from object nodes can improve overall performance.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation on scope is thereby intended.